The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors conveying articles and more particularly to conveyor belts with embedded biosensors and methods of detecting biological contaminants or additives on conveyor belts.
Biological contamination or improper levels of additives can compromise the quality and safety of food products. In many applications, food products are conveyed through continuous processes on a conveyor belt. Typical methods of detecting the presence of biological contaminants or additives on food products include the steps of taking samples of the food products or of food fluids, rinse water, or other specimens that come in contact with the food products, culturing those samples in a Petri dish, and observing the culture under a microscope. Those steps rely to a great degree on human participation and can be time-consuming.